White Wine and Honesty
by paynesgrey
Summary: Damon finds Elena at The Grill and invites her out for a little heart to heart, to a seedy underworld bar of course. Damon x Elena This is a one-shot and will not be continued. Season 1 spoilers.


AN: Written for a holiday exchange for my LJ friend browneyedmami. This is a one-shot and will not be continued.

White Wine and Honesty

Damon found Elena nursing a diet coke at _The Grill_, and he hovered in the corner before she discovered him. She glared at him as he smirked at her and raised his glass, and instantly, Damon noticed the bruises on her jaw and arms. She drew her eyes away as he moved toward her, his focus on the wounds the car crash, slowly healing after she was released from the hospital.

She downed the last sip of her drink before slamming down her glass. She turned toward the stool with her purse and prepared to leave.

"Going already?" Damon asked. "But I just got here."

"Exactly," she groaned, throwing her knapsack over her shoulder and smacking a tip down. "Bye, Damon." She stormed out of the bar, and predictably, he followed her, enjoying the challenge and the chase.

"I have no idea why you're mad at me, but I want you to know, I just want to talk to you – with no games," he said, catching up to her side. Elena groaned as she stopped in front of her rental SUV.

"Damon, just leave me alone, alright? I'm done with your family. You should be happy. Stefan is all yours now," she said mockingly, and she pushed the button on her remote lock to open her doors; however, Damon intercepted her hand before she touched the handle.

"Look, whatever you and Stefan are fighting about, that's your business. I just want to talk," he said.

Elena let out a raspy sigh. "I don't want to talk."

"Harsh," he said, feigning rejection. She met his eyes and watched them follow down her neck and upper chest. "You gave him back the vervain."

Elena raised her chin. "That's right. I don't need it."

Damon smirked. "Are you sure?" Elena nodded her head vigorously and smacked her lips.

"Yeah, okay. So go ahead, do your worse, Damon. Trick me into doing…whatever for you. I don't care." She crossed her arms and clenched her jaw, staring at him in angry anticipation.

Damon continued to smile. "Come on, Elena," he said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I promise I won't do anything. I am so over that."

"Yeah right." She rolled her eyes.

"Wow, Stefan really did a number on you," Damon spoke with amusement. Damon put his hand over his heart and lowered his voice to a whisper as he leaned in toward her. "I promise that I will not be so deceptive."

"Hard to believe since it runs in your family," Elena said. She put up her hand as a signal to ward him off. "I don't' know what you want, but I really need to get home. I need… time away from you brothers. So, no offense?" She grunted and then said with great reluctance, "I shouldn't have lashed out at you. It's not your fault." Then she added snidely, "_You_ didn't lie to me."

Damon cocked his head curiously at her, and he was intrigued by her sudden change of moods. He let out a brief snort before saying, "Let's go."

"Excuse me?"

"You look like you need a real drink, not the wussy diet coke stuff," Damon said. "I know a place. C'mon." He tilted his head to the left and held out his hand, giving her the option rather than forcing her. Elena was in a delicate state, ranging from annoyed to out-right enraged, and underneath it all, Damon saw her most vulnerable state just brimming at the surface.

If he was going to use it to his advantage, no other time was more appropriate than now.

"Quit joking," she said with a laugh, and she crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "You aren't compelling me or whatever, are you?"

"Scout's honor," he said with a small grin. Elena scrutinized him, and he guessed she was trying to find any sign of deception. She was way out of his league if she thought she could read _him_ of all people.

He shifted his hand closer, just hovering over hers as she unfolded her arms and took his. Upon the moment of skin on skin, Damon drew her close and she rested against his chest before her surroundings became a blur. She screamed and closed her eyes, and she could feel the rumble of Damon's chest against her as he laughed, overjoyed at her reaction as he carried her and sped their way toward the destination.

--

When they fell out of super-flight, Damon let her go and Elena smacked him on the chest.

"Jerk! Tell me when you're going to do something like that! I could have driven us here."

"Too slow. Besides, look around," he said, his hands in his jacket pockets. "Your car would get stolen in this place, among other things." Elena felt her blood go cold, and she snapped her head around and glared at him.

"Where did you take me?" she asked appalled, and Damon drew her close.

"Stick with me and you won't get killed," he said. Elena stiffened next to him, silent but still glowering. "Relax; this was the only place I could think of where they'd serve a minor. Now come on."

Elena leaned closer against Damon and looked around, mostly out of curiosity and fear.

Damon grunted. "Try not to act so afraid or you will become someone's meal." He looked at her dangerously, and Elena slightly pulled back.

"You look uncomfortable yourself. Am I bothering you?" Elena sneered at him.

Damon shrugged, and Elena saw something in his face that maybe he was. "Not at all. Let's go."

He drew them into the seediest nightclub Elena had ever seen, and from what she could tell, they were in the sketchiest underground parts of some big city, probably New York by the chill against her skin. Lady Gaga remixed and blared from the sound system inside, and people gyrated together in one fluid, hazy sea of motion. Some people were dancing closer than others, and Elena wrinkled her nose when she saw a couple feeding off each other, as well as having sex right in the middle of the crowd.

"Great place," Elena said sarcastically, and Damon threw her an amused look. Soon, they swam unnoticed through the amorphous crowd, and Damon found them a perfect spot in the shadowy corner, but not before flinging off the original, weaker occupant to open up the table for them.

"That was rude," Elena said, and Damon shrugged again.

"I wanted this spot, and he's just a human anyway. He's looking for death here, and he'll probably find it." Damon met her eyes intensely. "If anything, I was merciful."

Elena felt a wave of disgust, and she looked up at an irritated tattooed waitress hover over them. "Whatta ya want?"

"I will have Werewolf, and please use Gentleman Jack, and my guest here will have…" Damon looked her over, and strangely, Elena felt briefly exposed under his roaming eyes. "Better make it a white wine. She's a lightweight."

The waitress's annoyed look intensified with a smack of her gum, which seemed to signal her affirmation of their order. When she stalked off, Elena studied Damon, who seemed to be having the time of his life.

"Wow, you're definitely in your element," she said. She rested her chin on her palm and blatantly stared at him. It was her turn to make him uncomfortable, as long as Damon showed some veneer of temperance.

"You really think so?" he said, furrowing his brow. Now she knew he was just playing with her and giving in to her attentions. If anything, Elena couldn't believe she was flirting with him at all, but at the moment she didn't care. She only hoped Damon didn't leave her here – so she tried to play nice for now.

"I don't know, Damon," she said with a long sigh. "I really don't know anything about you – other than, you know, the scary and bad stuff."

Their drinks arrived, and Damon scooped his up and took a long swig. "Might want to bring another round." He winked at the waitress, who didn't seem keen on his charm. Elena liked seeing someone not fall for Damon's attentions; it was refreshing to see him knocked down a peg.

"I'm not drinking that much," she said warningly, hoping he didn't order any more. She didn't believe he'd listen, but it was worth a shot. Elena sipped the wine cautiously, and Damon watched her with exasperation.

"Come on, Elena, cut loose for a change," Damon encouraged.

"I can't cut loose at a place like this. There are people here that probably want to eat me, and well, the dance floor is totally off limits." She shuddered when she remembered the salacious couple in the middle.

"Drink more and you'll think differently," he offered jovially, and Elena shot him a nasty look. "You are so uptight. No wonder you fell for my brother. Both of you are total buzz kills," he said, and he took another long drink.

"Can you please not mention Stefan?" Elena said with a harrumph. It was bad enough she gave into Damon and was spending time with him, miles and miles away from Stefan and her family.

"Alright, fine; I take it back," Damon said, and she thought he might half-way meant the sentiment.

Elena took a bigger drink, and Damon smiled at her, impressed. "It's about time you drank like a big girl."

"Shut up," she said, and she took another hearty swallow of the white wine. Already, she was feeling the buzz and her cheeks were getting hotter. She furrowed her brow and realized that she was losing inhibitions, and maybe this was just what Damon wanted, to bring her to a dangerous place and get her drunk. Well, she was stupid enough to let him.

Elena frowned and she started to stare at the light-colored liquid in her glass. Her thoughts jumbled in her head, and suddenly she blurted out the one thing she wanted to say to Damon since her fight with his brother. "So, you knew I looked like Katherine all of this time."

Damon leaned over the table and exhaled. "Well, it was obvious."

Elena looked at him with distress. "And you never said anything?"

"To Stefan, yes, but to you…" He paused for a beat, and said placidly, "It wasn't my place to tell."

"You could have mentioned…"

Damon waved her off. "I figured he would tell you eventually." Damon took another drink, and Elena saw pain hidden within the darkness in his eyes. Katherine meant a lot to them both, just in different ways. Now that Elena knew she resembled the vampire woman, she felt even more uncomfortable in her own skin. There must be a reason she looked like her, right?

Elena sighed. "It's so messed up. Like, why me, you know? Why do I look like Katherine?"

"Hey, come on," Damon said flippantly. "I think you're making too much out of this. It's no big deal. So you look like her. Let me assure you, Elena, you are _nothing_ like Katherine. Looks are all you share."

Elena nodded and looked ahead into the ominous crowd. "Well, at least you're honest." Elena met his eyes cynically. "For now."

"You still don't trust me, do you?" Damon asked.

"It's going to take a lot more than dragging me to some dive bar and getting me drunk for me to trust you, Damon," Elena remarked lightheartedly. Her smile lost some of its glow when she added, "I am grateful, at least, for your honesty, but not only that." Now, Elena knew it was the alcohol allowing her to open up, to Damon of all people, and she secretly hated it, but she couldn't stop herself. "I can't thank you enough for what you did for Jeremy."

Damon looked away from her eyes, and she watched him swallow the last of his second drink. "I told you it was nothing."

"No, it was something," she said, and she rested her hand on his arm, and when she met his burning gaze, she saw expression never before on Damon's face. They both stared in silence, and Elena felt like hours went by as the rest of the background drowned out around them.

"It's time to go," he said in a low, strained voice. He pulled at her arm roughly and ignored her protest as he led her out of the bar and back into the street. She opened her mouth to yell at him for his treatment, but he didn't give her time before whisking them away again back to Mystic Falls.

Elena's head spun wildly from the travel, and Damon felt eerily cold against her, his body a hard stone against her pliant one. She guessed he was angry with her, and maybe she had been a little too kind for Damon's tastes.

When he brought her back to her SUV, he had her pinned against the door, and he hovered over her like a predator, reminding her that he was not a man – he was a creature beyond that. Elena chastised herself for ever forgetting that.

"Damon," she said with a breathy sigh, and she started to get scared, almost regretting she didn't have the vervain. When he didn't move and just stared down at her hungrily, Elena could help the wave of fear overcoming her.

"You need to stop that," he said, but he still didn't back off. He leaned down to the side of her head and inhaled a deep breath from her hair.

"Damon, okay, you need to step back," Elena said cautiously, putting up her hands gently against his chest. She saw the dark veins around his eyes as they went black. His voice dipped low, and she saw his fangs.

"Can't," he said with a wicked laugh. His hands snaked up her throat and onto her cheeks. She watched him silently as he leaned in for a long, barely controlled kiss before pulling away, watching her hungrily and scoping her out like delectable prey.

Elena closed her eyes, licked her lips and tried to keep her body still, hoping he'd eventually calm down. While Damon held her, Elena tried to focus and control her fear. She took a deep breath, exhaling, and then breathing inward again. Suddenly, everything around her seemed to slow down, and she heard Damon's harsh growls mixed with her own controlled breathing. She heard other things around them, church bells in the distance, and people coming out of _The Grill_ – laughing and assuming they were just making out. But they weren't, and the harsh reality of Damon's teetering violence over control hovered around her like fog. If Damon couldn't snap out of it, Elena had to make him - somehow.

"Okay, Damon…. are you going to kill me?" she whispered.

"No!" he snarled.

Elena's eyes fluttered with relief, and she nodded, grimacing. "Alright." She craned her neck. "Then do you what you need to do."

Suddenly, he pushed her aside, swiftly and hard, and she slammed onto the ground as her hands broke her fall. She cautiously looked up at him, and he regained some semblance of control; even though his fangs were gone, his eyes were still deep pools of black.

"I can't believe you did that," he said, and his surprise took him out of his hunger more than his self-control. Elena stood up slowly, and Damon still watched her incredulously. She dusted the dirt off her jeans, and Damon's shock turned into pleasure. "You were really going to let me bite you."

"You were close to killing me!" Elena retorted.

Damon shook his head. "I wouldn't have killed you. I would have bitten you unwillingly, yes, but no, I wouldn't kill you." He laughed and leaned against her rental car. "Stefan is already pissed at me, do you think I want him to come after me and blow my cover? No, no, Elena, to kill you would be a waste anyway."

Elena pursed her lips. "You were going to do _something_." She pointed at him accusingly. "Don't deny it."

He glided over to her with a grin. "I don't deny _that_."

Elena sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Tonight has been way too crazy. I'm going home." Damon moved aside as she opened the car door, and he continued to watch her with a big grin.

"Hey, can I tell my brother we're dating now?" Damon asked, but she did not like his amused tone.

"You better not, and we are _not _dating, Damon. Don't flatter yourself," she groaned at him.

"Touchy, touchy. I'll just tell him you let me kiss you – willingly – without any vervain interfering," Damon said, and Elena shot him her classic annoyed look.

"I thought you were trying _not_ to upset your brother?" Elena huffed at him.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Oh, well, that was a lie," he said plainly. Elena felt a rush of fury, and by the smile on his face, he loved her reaction.

"Are there any Salvatores on this planet who can tell the truth for one minute?" she exclaimed.

Damon took her hand, without her permission of course, and kissed it lightly before drawing away. "Baby, you don't know the half of it." Elena glared and Damon winked at her. She slammed the door shut and revved the engine of the SUV for an angry drive.

Damon watched her launch out of _The Grill_'s parking lot, and automatically, he fell in step toward her direction.

He couldn't help himself now. Damon had to follow Elena home and make sure she was safe – just in case.

END


End file.
